Kumeko Urabe

Kimura Kume (木村 くめ) was born on 5 October 1902, the daughter of Keichu Kume, a Rinzai priest at Kenchō-ji, and Hana Kume. She grew up in the rural district of Kamo as an only child, her one sibling, an older brother, having died when he was young. In 1909, the family moved to Kawazu, also in Shizuoka Prefecture, and Kume attended the primary school there. In 1915 they moved again, this time to Numazu, where her father served at the Myōshin-ji temple and Kume finished her formal schooling two years later, attending Numazu Girls' School. During this time, her interest in acting had been formed by seeing Rensageki, a form that mixed silent film and stage play. In 1919, she left school and joined Yasuyoshi Suzuki's troupe, adopting the stage name Kumeko Ichijo.[1]

Over the next four years, Kume joined travelling theatres and opera companies, perfecting her singing and dance routines, as well as learning to act in many roles. She also adopted a number of stage names, being known as Toyama Midori, Chidori Shizuura and Chidori Toyama. It was also during this time that she met Chieko Saga. The friends became known as "Sagachi" and "Tochi".[2]

In August 1923, Yasumasa Hatano recommended that she audition at the film studio Nikkatsu. She was successful and adopted the stage name Kumeko Urabe, which she retained for the rest of her career with pride.[3] In fact, she objected to her birth name being given the Medal of Honour with Purple Ribbon, saying that the award was for the work of Kumeko Urabe. She appeared in her first film in 1924, playing the heroine in the film Seisaku's wife (清作の妻). She was one of the first female actors in Japanese cinema.[4] Her skills attracted the attention of the director Kenji Mizoguchi, who starred her alongside Denmei Suzuki in the film Dust boundary (塵境).[5] After this, Urabe became one of the most popular members of the studio, behind only Yoneko Sakai and Haruko Sawamura.[6]

On 23 October 1928, she married Koichi Ueno, the son of a wealthy man from Kyoto, and resigned from the studio. However, the couple gambled heavily and the marriage ended in divorce in April 1930. She returned to acting, appearing in Mizoguchi's next film Tojin Okichi (唐唐人お吉). In July 1933, she left the studio to join Shinkō Kinema, which in 1942 became Daiei Film. She continued the appear in films after the Second World War, including Lightning, (稲妻) and Older Brother, Younger Sister (あにいもうと), directed by Mikio Naruse.[6]

Urabe expanded her repertoire by appearing in television drama, firstly in episodes of There Are People Here which were aired in 1957 and 1959.[7] She subsequently went on to play many roles, increasingly of grandmothers, in other shows, including Sharp Tuesday Theatre and Toshiba Sunday Theatre. In the latter case, she appeared in a total of thirteen episodes in the period between 1958 and 1980, her last in the 1228th episode, titled Song of Thoughts (想思樹の歌).[8]

After 1980, Urabe increasingly found work as a Grandma Idol. She released a single in November 1984, titled I became a singer (わたし歌手になりましたよ). However, this career was cut short in 1989. On 25 October, her stove in her apartment in Tokyo set alight her clothing and she was heavily burnt. Taken to Tokyo Medical University Hospital in Nishi-Shinjuku, she died of her injuries the next day. During her life, she had received a number of awards, including the Medal of Honour with Purple Ribbon in 1966. In her free time, she enjoyed mahjong and gambling on bicycle and boat racing.[9]

Urabe appeared in over 320 films including:

• Seisaku's wife (清作の妻), 1924, Come.[10]
• Dust boundary (塵境), 1924, Omatsu.[5]
• A women who longs for the law (法を慕ふ女), 1925, Yuriko.[11]
• Dolls House (人形の家), 1927, Miyako Hayashida.[12]
• Tojin Okichi' (唐唐人お吉), 1930, Omatsu.[13]
• The Water Magician (瀧の白糸), 1933, Ogin.[14]
• Messenger from the Moon (月よりの使者), 1934, Jailer.[15]
• The Lieutenant's daughter (大尉の娘), 1936, Yutaka.[16]
• Kindness (新雪), 1942, Kinbe's wife.[17]
• Genghis Khan (成吉思汗), 1943, Weruenke.[18]
• Women of the Night (夜の女たち), 1948, Aunt of pimp.[19]
• Foreign Hill (異国の丘), 1949, Mother-in-law.[20]
• Ginza Kankan Musume (銀座カンカン娘), 1949, Odai.[21]
• Mrs Pearl (真珠夫人) 1950, Aunt Karasawa and Otami.[22]
• Marriage March , 1951, Auntie.[20]
• Repast, (めし), 1951, Shige Taniguchi.[23]
• Lightning, (稲妻) (1952, Osamu.[23]
• Where Chimneys Are Seen, (煙突の見える場所), 1953, Kayo Nojima.[24]
• Older Brother, Younger Sister (あにいもうと), 1953, Riki.[24]
• Twenty-Four Eyes (二十四の瞳), 1954, Teacher's wife.[25]
• Somewhere under the Broad Sky (この広い空のどこかに), 1954, Shige.[25]
• She Was Like a Wild Chrysanthemum (野菊の如き君なりき), 1955, Minko's grandmother.[26]
• The Magistrate (次男坊判官), 1955, Shige.[27]
• Red Light District (赤線地帯), 1956, OTane.[28]
• Typhoon Over Nagasaki (忘れえぬ慕情), 1956, Fujita.[29]
• I Knew the Cat (猫は知っていた), 1958, Chie Kuwata.[30]
• The Eternal Rainbow (この天の虹), 1958, Osamu's mother.[31]
• Irohanihoheto (いろはにほへと), 1960, Mine Matsumoto.[32]
• Japanese Grandma: A Comedy (喜劇 にっぽんのお婆あちゃん), 1962, Zamameba Asan Waka.[33]
• Being Two Isn't Easy (私は二歳), 1962, Ino.[34]
• Crazy Movie: Irresponsible Japanese Guy (クレージー映画 ニッポン無責任野郎), 1962, Ume Nakagome.[33]
• Yearning (乱れる), 1964, Onsen no Okami[35]
• Jakoman and Tetsu (ジャコ萬と鉄), 1964, Taka.
• Hit and Run (ひき逃げ), 1966, Hisako Kanematsu.[36]
• Happiness to you, Sentimental boy (君に幸福を センチメンタル・ボーイ), 1967, Kura Ninotani.[37]
• Two in Shadow (乱れ雲). 1967. Mishima Nui.[38]
• Sun on a Solitary Island (孤島の太陽), 1968, Oume.[39]
• Crazy Movie: Mexican Free for All (クレージー映画 クレージーメキシコ大作戦), 1968, Ume Suzuki.[40]
• Ecstatic Person (恍惚の人), 1973, Grandma Kadoya.[41]
• Shinano River (しなの川), 1973, Mother.[42]
• The Life of Chikuzan (竹山ひとり旅), 1977, Daikoku of the Temple.[43]
• Before Spring (海潮音), 1980, Ushima Zuyo.[44]
• Lonely Heart (さびしんぼう), 1985, Fuki Inoue.[45]
• Hachiko Monogatari (ハチ公物語), 1987, Mrs Uchigi.[46]

Urabe has appeared in over 100 TV episodes, including:[7]

• NHK – There Are People Here (ここに人あり)

• Episodes 26 & 27 "House of Others" (他人の家), 1957
• Episode 77 "Interrupting the Wall" (壁さえぎるとも), 1959.

• KRT/TBS – Toshiba Sunday Theatre (東芝日曜劇場) 13 episodes including:[8]

• 91 "Oki Letter" (置手紙), 1958
• 416 Father and Son (父と子たち), 1964
• 890 "Spring Wife" (妻の春), 1973
• 1228 "Song of Thoughts" (想思樹の歌), 1980.

• CX – Sharp Tuesday Theatre (シャープ火曜劇場) "Like Nogiku" (野菊の如く), 1961.[47]
• TBS – Keisuke Kinoshita Hour (木下恵介アワー) "Memorial Tree" (記念樹), 1966.[48]
• NTV – Anxious Wife (気になる嫁さん), 1971.[8]
• TBS – When Hamanasu flowers bloom (はまなすの花が咲いたら), 1981–1982.[49]
• NTV – Female Lawyer Ayuko Takabayashi: 4 Shinshu Iida Line Tenryukyo Gorge (女弁護士・高林鮎子4 信州飯田線殺意の天竜峡), 1988.[50]

• Asoshiētsu, Nichigai (2008). 映画基本書目大正・昭和・平成 [Basic movie books: Taisho, Showa, Heisei] (in Japanese). Tokyo: Hatsubaimoto Kinokuniya Shoten. ISBN 978-4-81692-194-0.
• Cowie, Peter; Elley, Derek (1977). World Filmography 1967. London: Tantivy Press. ISBN 978-0-49801-565-6.
• Ekusupuresu, AV (1998). 映画大全集 [Movie Guide] (in Japanese). Tokyo: Metamoru Shuppan. ISBN 978-4-89595-216-3.
• Inomata, Katsuhito (1975). 日本映画名作全史 [Full History of Japanese Movie Masterpieces] (in Japanese). Tokyo: Shakai Shisōsha. ISBN 978-4-39010-803-4.
• Iwamoto, Kenji (2007). サイレントからトーキーへ : 日本映画形成期の人と文化 [From Silent to Talkies, People and Culture in the Age of Japanese Film Formation] (in Japanese). Tokyo: Shinwasha. ISBN 978-4-91608-778-2.
• Kanshōkai, Musei Eiga; Eigasha, Matsuda (2005). 日本無声映画俳優名鑑 [The great Japanese silent movie stars] (in Japanese). Tokyo: Āban Konekushonzu. ISBN 978-4-90084-975-4.
• Kinema Junpōsha (1980). 日本映画俳優全集・女優編 [Complete Works of Japanese Film Actors and Actresses] (in Japanese). Tōkyō: Kinema Junpōsha. OCLC 22823615.
• Matsūra, Kōzō (1982). 日本映画史大鑑: 映画渡来から現代まで・86年間の記錄 [Japanese Film History Encyclopedia: A record of 86 years from the arrival of movies to the present day] (in Japanese). Tokyo: Bunka Shuppankyoku. OCLC 12700245.
• Miyagi, Kenshu (1990). 戦後・戦争映画史 [Movies: Wartime and Post-war] (in Japanese). Okinawa: Tanteki Chokusanbō. ISBN 978-4-88218-034-0.
• Richie, Donald (2006). A Hundred Years of Japanese Film. Tokyo: Kodansha. ISBN 978-4-77002-995-9.
• Tsūshinsha, Nyūsu (1994). テレビドラマ全史, 1953—1994 [The History of TV Drama, 1953-1994] (in Japanese). Tokyo: Tōkyō Nyūsu Tsūshinsha. OCLC 32241958.